By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Friday night was a fun night for Guerin Catholic’s basketball teams, as they scored a sweep of one of their biggest rivals at the Eagles Nest.
The Golden Eagles girls team went first, putting together a fine defensive effort in beating Brebeuf Jesuit 42-27 for its first Circle City Conference win of the season. The boys were up next, and their seniors led the way for GC during a 63-45 win over the Braves.
SCORING TEAR
The Guerin Catholic girls got off to a solid start, leading 10-5 after the first quarter. Olivia Labus scored six of those points, including two free-throw attempts.
The Golden Eagles continued to play well in the second quarter, adding on another 10 points for a 20-9 lead by halftime. Katie Koger had an outstanding performance during that period, scoring all 10 of those points.
Koger added another six points in the third quarter, while Kathryn Loso helped out with three points. Most of those points were from the free-throw line, with Koger going 4-for-4 and Loso going 3-for-4 at the line. Loso followed that up with a 4-for-4 effort in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
“Katie Koger’s been on a scoring tear,” said Guerin Catholic coach Marc Quaranta. “She’s had 19, 20, 21 tonight. And then Kathryn Loso had nine points, but seven of them were free throws which came up pretty crucial toward the end. We preach sharing the ball, driving, being aggressive and Katie Koger’s done a great job of being aggressive the last couple days. Most of her points are right at the rim from driving the ball.”
After Koger and Loso, Labus added seven points. Megan Cobb hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth to give Guerin its largest lead, 34-17. Delaney Klee added two points on a basket to open the second half.
The Guerin Catholic girls are 1-3 in conference play and 9-8 overall, and will play at Speedway tonight.
SENIOR LEADERS
The Golden Eagles boys team has eight seniors on its roster, but those players weren’t even in high school the last time GC beat the Braves – Jan. 22, 2016, exactly five years ago Friday. Guerin Catholic was determined to stop that streak, and its upperclassmen led the way to doing just that.
Brebeuf scored the first basket of the game, a 3-pointer. The Golden Eagles answered that with a 6-0 run courtesy of two of their seniors: Kaleb Edwards made back-to-back baskets, then Joseph Bobilya hit two free throws. Guerin was up 6-3 and never trailed again.
“The bottom line for us is, we have great senior leadership,” said GC coach Bobby Allen. “They have experience. They’ve been in big games before, and to be honest with you, we have not come out on top in the big games these past three years. We know Brebeuf is an incredible team. They’ve played an incredible schedule. They have a great coaching staff. Our seniors came out and they wanted to win this one, not only at home, but just to get us back in the flow of things after we were out for two weeks on quarantine.”
The Golden Eagles used that momentum to go up 17-8 by the end of the first quarter. GC finished the period on a 7-0 run; junior Will Grissom started the stretch with a basket, Bobilya nailed his first 3-pointer of the game, and freshman Matthew Cherry made a layin.
The seniors continued to shine in the second quarter. Matthew Gillis scored eight points, with classmates Bobilya and Edwards assisting him. Junior Matthew Etchison helped out with a 3-pointer late in the period, and Guerin Catholic eventually led 30-20 at halftime.
The Braves got the Golden Eagles’ lead down to 35-27 in the third quarter, but Guerin pulled away in the last 1:18 of the period, scoring five straight points to lead 40-37 at the end of the period. Edwards made a free throw, Gillis was good on a layin and Grissom scored off a steal.
The Golden Eagles stayed ahead by double digits for the entirety of the fourth quarter, making a 7-0 run late in the period to put the game even more out of reach. Grissom scored four of those points, with Bobilya starting the run with a layin. Gillis also hit a free throw.
“Matthew Gillis’ growth has been incredible for this group,” said Allen. “We now have that full inside-out presence.”
Bobilya led the way with 20 points, including three 3-pointers. Gillis reached double-double status with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Grissom added 12 points, dished out five assists and made four steals, while Edwards contributed nine points and collected five rebounds. Etchison also had five rebounds.
“Our seniors stepped up big time,” said Allen. “Joseph Bobilya, Kaleb Edwards, Matthew Gillis all did the job we asked them to do tonight. And Will Grissom played tremendous defense with some big-time steals to extend that lead in the second half. I’m proud of our guys. They locked into the game plan and we executed it.”
The Golden Eagles are 1-1 in conference play and 9-2 overall. They next play on Tuesday at Liberty Christian.
GIRLS GAME
GUERIN CATHOLIC 42, BREBEUF JESUIT 27
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Aliyah Dorsey 0 0-0 0 2
Katie Koger 7 7-10 21 3
Delaney Klee 1 0-0 2 2
Kathryn Loso 1 7-9 9 3
Olivia Labus 2 3-4 7 2
Mia Thompson 0 0-0 0 1
Hannah Weitzel 0 0-0 0 0
Halley Buehler 0 0-0 0 0
Megan Cobb 1 0-0 3 1
Totals 12 17-23 42 14
Score by Quarters
Brebeuf Jesuit 5 4 6 12 – 27
Guerin Catholic 10 10 11 11 – 42
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (1) Cobb 1.
BOYS GAME
GUERIN CATHOLIC 63, BREBEUF JESUIT 45
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Kaleb Edwards 4-8 1-2 9 4
Joseph Bobilya 6-12 5-5 20 3
Will Grissom 4-12 4-4 12 2
Jack Cherry 1-2 2-2 4 1
Matthew Gillis 7-11 1-6 15 1
Matthew Etchison 1-1 0-2 3 1
Garrett Kreiner 0-0 0-0 0 1
Patrick Baird 0-0 0-0 0 0
Jack Parenteau 0-1 0-0 0 0
Spencer Wilt 0-0 0-0 0 0
Elijah Edwards 0-0 0-0 0 1
Totals 23-47 13-21 63 14
Score by Quarters
Brebeuf Jesuit 8 12 7 18 – 45
Guerin Catholic 17 13 10 23 – 63
Guerin Catholic 3-point shooting (4-12) Bobilya 3-7, Etchison 1-1, Grissom 0-4.
Guerin Catholic rebounds (33) Gillis 11, K. Edwards 5, Etchison 5, Grissom 3, Cherry 3, Bobilya 1, Baird 1, Kreiner 1, Parenteau 1, team 2.